Jorge Bru Romeu is chef at El Palmar, a village of La Albufera Lake in
Valencia where rice is the only cultivation.From this place, he treasures childhood memories when he
played at his great grandfather’s piece of land, where they had the rice threshing
machine.Among all the places
to enjoy tasty rice, my favourite is El Graner (The Barn), Jorge’s restaurant.

Acerca de la paella
valenciana, el plato estrella conocido internacionalmente, existen algunos
dogmas culinarios. Jorge define la paella como un guiso de arroz acompañado de pollo,
judías y garrofón.Este último se
usa principalmente en la paella, sorprendentemente me dice que su abuela la
sustituía por otra legumbre cuando no tenía. Regarding Valencian paella, the dish famous throughout the world, there are some culinary assertions, so I asked for his opinion about them. He defines paella as a rice stew with chicken, green beans and garrofón. This latter is mainly used in paella: surprisingly he told me that his grandmother replaced it by another vegetable when there wasn't any left.

Water is another key element in
paella.Jorge confirmed that its
hardness has an influence on the cooking of the grain.He listed other important matters: the
container, the rice variety and the kind of fire: bonfire or stove. Since 1992, he prepares all paellas over a wood fire.

The Valencian cooking has two kinds of rice. Paella rice is prepared in a shallow metal pan and the water
is completely absorbed by the rice. Soupy rice -on the contrary- keeps an important amount of water and is cooked in a deep clay pot.

According to Jorge, the meat paella is the origin of the varieties of
rice in Valencian cooking: fish and seafood have replaced meat and vegetables.Valencians prefer paella. The
proportion in his restaurant confirms this fact: 2 soupy rices for 15
paellas.His menu includes arroz negro (rice cooked in squid ink), arroz a banda, arroz del senyoret (young master’s rice) and the seafood paellas (lobster
included).I learned something new:
in its origin the arroz a banda was soupy rice but nowadays it is prepared like
paella.

Jorge's recommendations to our readers when preparing their own paella are:“Of course, they must use local
ingredients and round grain rice.It is important to bear in mind that this dish requires its proper time. Take your time and prepare all the ingredients well before
cooking.”

I wanted to photograph the cereal so I went where the threshing machine is;
rice is ripening in a close plot. Like
many inhabitants of El Palmar, Jorge also grows rice. After the harvest, rice gets packed: some of this grain is sold in his restaurant, some of it is used in his
paellas.

It is late and my companion is back from his meeting.We go back to El Graner to have
lunch.I keep my fingers crossed:
“I wish the menu includes rice today”.Yes, arroz a banda!When
the stock is ready, Jorge proposes to see how rice is poured in the paella.This ritual is very appreciated by
visitors who don't know the cooking process. I keep asking culinary questions until we are invited back to table.